In the new issue of Regulation, economist Pierre Lemieux argues that the recent oil price decline is at least partly the result of increased supply from the extraction of shale oil. The increased supply allows the economy to produce more goods, which benefits some people, if not all of them. Thus, contrary to some commentary in the press, cheaper oil prices cannot harm the economy as a whole.

Two long wars, chronic deficits, the financial crisis, the costly drug war, the growth of executive power under Presidents Bush and Obama, and the revelations about NSA abuses, have given rise to a growing libertarian movement in our country – with a greater focus on individual liberty and less government power. David Boaz’s newly released The Libertarian Mind is a comprehensive guide to the history, philosophy, and growth of the libertarian movement, with incisive analyses of today’s most pressing issues and policies.

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Archives: 06/2007

The Financial Timesreports that the German Finance Ministry has produced a study showing that the burden of government spending in Germany is on track to fall below the level in the United Kingdom. Indeed, if OECD data is reliable, the UK became a bigger welfare state this year.

This is mostly a poor reflection on British PMs Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, who have presided over an explosion in the size of the state sector. But German politicians deserve a small pat on the back for imposing at least a modest bit of discipline on the growth of government spending:

Public spending in Germany, as a percentage of total economic output, has fallen sharply in the past three years and is fast approaching British levels, according to a finance ministry study. The report, obtained by the Financial Times, shows state expenditures reached 45.6 per cent of gross domestic product last year, compared with 44.1 per cent in the UK, which is generally thought of as a low-tax, low-spending economy.

…Instead of focusing on the fiscal deficit — the difference between state expenditures and revenues — the report concentrates solely on spending. The [German] spending-to-GDP ratio fell from 47.1 to 45.6 per cent between 2004 and 2006, making Germany the fourth-smallest spender in the eurozone. The same ratio rose from 42.7 to 44.1 in the UK over the same period.

…”Good progress has been made in the recent past, mainly in cutting public sector headcounts,” said Winfried Fuest, economist at the business-funded IW economic institute. But he expressed worries about government being tempted “to spend more now that the economy is doing better”.

There are a handful of prisoners that would actually preferto stay imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay. They would rather stay than be deported to a country like Libya where they may face torture and execution. Curiously, U.S. officials can’t seem to accomodate the handful of guys who wish to remain at Gitmo.

An appeals court rejects former attorney general John Ashcroft’s bid for legal immunity in a case involving the abuse of detainees in U.S. prisons. Government lawyers continue to fight the lawsuit on other grounds. Previous coverage here.

The FBI has discovered more wrongdoing with respect to its use of National Security Letters. This might be another case of “telling the truth slowly,” a technique that the Clintons perfected and that others like to emulate. Previous coverage here.

The FBI director, Robert Mueller, likes to use an expensive anti-terrorism plane to give speeches around the country. Congress must share the blame for this sort of thing. As I pointed out in this paper, if Congress throws billions into the federal bureaucracy to “fight terrorism,” don’t be surprised if the definitions of “terrorism” and “homeland security” get stretched and twisted.

Last, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales faces more scrutiny for his shifting explanations regarding his conduct in office. In an attempt to deflect attention away from himself, Gonzales keeps traveling around the country to give away federal largesse on various crime-fighting initiatives. He says he’s not paying attention to the investigations and the no-confidence vote this week in the Senate, but no one really believes him. Gonzales needs to follow Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz into retirement.

Politicians are circling around hedge funds like vultures. They want to raise taxes on hedge funds, maybe by treating their capital gains as normal income. Why? Because hedge funds are mysterious — do you know what they really do? — and they have a lot of money. Make billion-dollar profits, get headlines, attract taxers — it’s as certain as ants at a picnic.

There are whole books on the correct theory of taxation. I’ve always assumed that Democratic members of Congress operate on the theory most clearly enunciated in 1990 by Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D, Md.):

Let’s go and get it from those who’ve got it.

There are many theories of taxation, such as Haig-Simons, the Tiebout model, and the Ramsay Principle. But I’d bet that the Mikulski Principle explains actual taxation best.

The House Agriculture Committee yesterday released its preliminary discussion draft of the commodity section of the Farm Bill (the section that deals with the subsidy programs). But the changes proposed by Rep. Colin Peterson (D, Minn.), House Agriculture Committee chairman, are precisely the wrong sort of changes needed to avoid legal challenges to its farm programs and inject life into the Doha round of global trade talks.

Chairman Peterson has suggested increasing most of the price-linked subsidies, and paying for the increase out of the money currently allocated for direct subsidies that farmers receive regardless of production or market prices.

When farmers are paid according to the amount they produce, this encourages overproduction and depresses world market prices. That infuriates our trade partners, and we can expect more of the type of legal challenge to U.S. farm programs as the cotton case (more here) and the new case against U.S. farm subsidies brought by Canada (background here).

While paying farmers “money for nothing” may be fiscally irresponsible, it is less market distorting than the types of subsidies that Chairman Peterson is proposing to increase. It makes no sense to increase the types of payments that are causing legal trouble. And if commodity prices fall from the current historic highs, then these subsidies would have a necessarily higher budgetary impact than the current setup.

My colleage Dan Griswold and I have proposed bribing farmers to let us scrap the whole thing altogether.

I have an article today over at The Weekly Standard online, wherein I praise my wife, admit to my own vulnerabilities, call my friend a sissy, and offer some advice to those who fear health savings accounts (HSAs) and the outrageous prices doctors charge.

Here’s what Anatole Kaletsky, columnist at the London Times, has to say about the task facing Gordon Brown:

The question Mr Brown must now ask himself is whether he can still allow himself to remain publicly allied to a US Administration that is so recklessly belligerent in its diplomatic conduct, so demonstrably incompetent in warfare and so irresponsibly dangerous to the peace of the world.

As the anarchy in Iraq goes from bad to worse and Washington’s only answer is to expand the circle of its aggression, clichés about the special relationship are no longer sufficient. Mr Brown must decide whether to remain a silent but active partner in this madness, whether to retreat quietly like the Italians, Poles and Spaniards or to develop a third and genuinely courageous option. This is to positively forestall further disasters by breaking publicly with the Bush Administration and trying to develop a genuine European alternative to the suicidal American-led policies, not only in Iraq, but also in Israel, Palestine and Iran.

It’s one thing to hear Dominique de Villepin or “Pootie-Poot” talking like this, but when your friends in England have thrown up their hands, it’s doubly bad news. Interestingly, both Brown and the Tory leader David Cameron have moved away from the stance of Tony Blair, with Cameron going so far as to announce that “We should be solid but not slavish in our friendship with America.”

Sometimes the best friends provide not reflexive support but constructive criticism and prudent advice. Hopefully the U.S.-England relationship will move away from the former and toward the latter.

Maine has one of the country’s highest income tax rates, which stifles growth and undermines competitiveness. But this may soon be a relic of the past, as the state House has approved a flat tax. The supposed revenue loss from lower income tax collections will be offset by broadening the base of the sales tax, which currently applies to only a narrow range of products.

Interestingly, Republicans in the statehouse are opposing the proposal, though it is not clear whether they are being partisans and reflexively opposing a Democratic plan or whether there are some genuinely objectionable features of what otherwise seems to be a pro-growth reform. This story in the (Brunswick, ME) Times Record, for instance, does not reveal whether the tax plan is designed to raise more money for government:

The House voted largely along party lines Wednesday to support a tax restructuring plan that expands the sales tax base to lower the income tax rate — a plan Republicans warned would cause a revolt back home when people realize how it affects their day-to-day purchases.

…[I]t gives tax relief to Mainers of all income-levels and stabilizes the tax system that currently relies on sales in just 24 categories. That limited base makes sales tax revenue very volatile and leaves the state short on cash when the economy slows. On the other hand, the state has the seventh highest income tax rate in the country and that discourages businesses from moving here and retirees from making the state their full-time home. The plan would rebalance that system. “This plan will provide a tremendous economic boost to the state of Maine,” [state Rep. John] Piotti said. “It will be a huge stimulus for people in state who want to expand and for people out of state looking to do business….”

The proposal would raise more than $230 million in sales-related revenue by expanding the 5 percent sales tax base to a long list of currently exempt services; raising the meals and lodging tax from 7 to 8 percent; increasing the real estate transfer tax on a sliding scale based on the property’s selling price; and doubling the excise tax on beer and wine. That money, in turn, would be used to lower the state’s graduated income tax to a flat tax of 6 percent.